St. Anthony's Church, Ajni is one of the oldest parishes of the Archdiocese of Nagpur. As per the available data this parish had a humble beginning in 1919. Holy Eucharist was celebrated in the G.I.P Railway (presently the Central Railway) quarters of Ajni on every Sunday since January of that year.

In March 1931 Rt. Rev. Coppel took the momentous decision to have a church built for the good of the faithful. The project of building the church was entrusted to Fr. Vincent Lucasz, then teacher at SFS School who went about the task of collecting funds and supervising the construction with great zeal. The church of St. Anthony with Bro. Harold D'Silva as its engineer was completed and blessed by Bishop Louis Gayet on December 20, 1934.

With a view to keep pace with and accomodate the increasing number of catholics, the church, the adjoining presbytery and parish hall has been rebuilt under the guidance of Rev. Fr Jerome Pinto. The restructuring began on 30th November 1997 at the hands of Most Rev. Leobard D'Souza and the new church was blessed and dedicated by Most Rev. Abraham Viruthakulangara on 15th November 1998.

The dedicated work of the former resident priests is continued by Fr. Anthony J.D'Souza and Fr. Sunit Lugun, the present incumbents. Centered on the Word of God and the Eucharist, the faith-formed, hope and spirit-filled community endeavours to fullfil its mission in the church and the world. The Parish Council members, the Animators of the Small Christian Communities and Area Collectors assist in planning and effectively carrying out the decisions for the spiritual and temporal good of the parishioners. The meticulous work of the various committees ensures a prayerful and meaningful participation of the faithful at the Sunday Liturgy and the celebration of important Feasts and devotions. Sunday Religious instruction is imparted to the students from class I to X, while special attention is given to the children to prepare them for the reception of the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Holy Communion and Confirmation.

Regular family visits specially to the old and the sick, area-wise celebration of the Holy Eucharist, SCC Prayer Meetings are a regular feature of the parish life. This is supplemented by organising various programs for the children, the youth and various age groups/professionals of the parish. The celebration of Children's Day, Youth Day, Mother's Day, Family Day and Parish Day help in strengthening the bonds of love and unity in the parish.

It is nice to remember that St. Anthony's School took its miniature form in 1928. This was started by then Asst. Parish Priest of S.F.S. Cathedral, Rev. Fr. F.X. Collaco. He began the school in a plot of land acquired from the railways, close to the railway colony. When this school began there was no sign of human existence in this area except a small temporary shed which was known as St. Anthony's Primary School. As the years advanced the school too grew into full fledged high school along with the parish.

May our Blessed Mother and the great St. Anthony continue to protect and bless our Parish.

The parish was officially installed in 1998 with Fr Leenus Neetany as the first parish priest.

The following is the list of parish priest who served from 1998 till date

1.  Rev. Fr. Leenus Neetany- 1998

2.  Rev Fr Shaji Mathew- 1999-2002

3.  Rev Fr Anto Kaitharath -2002-2003

4.  Rev Fr Augustine Kolencherry–2003 2004

5.  Rev Fr Joseph Thazhanganatt – 2004-2007

6.  Rev Fr Vincent Thottupatt - 2007

The parish was carved out of Rosary Parish officially in 1998 and installed by Most  Rev. Leobard D'Souza. It is situated in Pallotti  Nagar and run by Pallottine fathers of Prabhu Prakash Province. The parish has grown from 50 families to about 200 as of date. The parish has a lot of pastoral activites carried out at the parish level by the parish pastoral councils in collaboration with the 9 SCCs. The SCC has become the way of life in this parish. The other institutions existing are: St. Vincent Pallotti CBSE school and Junior college, Pallottine Sisters Convent and a formation house of the Assisi Sisters. All the institutions play an important role in the life and the mission of the local church at Pallotti Nagar. As per the vision and mission of the archdiocese we have PPC, SCCs who join in all the activities of the archdiocese as and when it is desired.

The Jaitala mission is situated 12 km. from Nagpur city. On the north side we have the Ambazeri Lake, on the south side C.R.P.F. Camp. On the east side Dr. Babasaheb International Airport and on the west side M.I.D.C. Jaitala is surrounded by more than 600 families living in basties. Earlier these people lived as Hindus, but now most of them have embraced Buddhism, in the footsteps of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar when he converted thousands to Buddhism. In fact some of the Christians also embraced Buddhism, so that they too become eligible to receive Government benefits.

The beginning of Jaitala mission 1936: At that time there was no priest available with the knowledge of Marathi to begin the mission. However, in 1936 Bishop Louis Gayet began this mission. Initially,it began tailoring and embroidery classes for women. with the help of Sr. Odette, a Mary Immaculate nun. Along with the social work, they also began religious instruction. Slowly the numbers began to grow. Bishop Louis Gayet showed personal interest in this mission. In 1947 Fr. Francis Mojet a Fransalian Priest was appointed to look after the mission. Being a missionary Fr. Mojet studied the local habits and soon won confidence of the people. In 1948 with the help of Dasrath Meshram and Somaji Nitnaware, they managed to purchase a plot of land on top the hill. He put up a small house. In the year 1947 India received its Independence.

In 1949 the first Indian priest Fr. Bansode was appointed to this mission. At this time the Fatima church was ready. And since the priest was Marathi speaking. The local people had a greater sense of belonging to the Church. In 1952 Fr. F.X. Gaikwad extended the Primary school to secondary (Std VIII) and got necessary permissions from the Government. In 1960 Fr. Paul Gaigole was appointed at Jaitala. During his time this mission was raised to the status of a parish.

In 1972 Fr. Patrick Lemos, a diocesan priest was appointed at Jaitala. During his reign of 14 years, he changed the face of Jaitala. He extended the school to Std X. He managed to have a decent building for the school. In 1977 the Fatima Sisters were invited to work in Jaitala parish. In 1985      Fr. Pascal was appointed in Jaitala. In his simple and loving manner he managed to bring the faithful together.

In 1989 the Salesians of Don Bosco were entrusted the mission of Jaitala. The Salesians, with the charism of Don Bosco captured the hearts of the people. Through family visits and personal contact, the families were united. Fr. Francis was instrumental in putting up a new school building and a residence for the confreres.

THE PRESENT SITUATION

The Parish comprises of 70 families, spread out in a big area. In fact Our Lady of Fatima Church-Jaitala run by the Salesians is the only Marathi speaking parish, in the whole Nagpur Archdiocese. Jaitala Parish is a bed of folks with various languages, viz: Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Marathi and a speaking (which indeed is on the increase) of English too.

There is a Marathi medium, government aided school from the K.G. class, right unto Class X helping all the children of the locality to be educated. The strength of the school is 670 boys and girls. The SSC result of 2009-10 were 100%. The craze is for English education and rightly so, as every job available in Nagpur city goes to those speaking English. This year St. Joseph Vidyalaya has begun lower English medium for Std. VIII, IX and X.

In the premises of the parish, class rooms are used for the facility of the evening study classes, assisted by a Salesian. Many youth make good use of this facility and around the times of their exams .

In the parish, the animation and facilitation is done by the Parish Pastoral Council members, who are SSC leaders elected for a term of 3 years from among the people. The Parish has five zones and every week the zones are animated with the help of the SSC leaders by the weekly zone prayer meeting held from Monday to Friday evenings in every zone in the week.

Sacramental life is not very much on the rise as many could not have had proper and right religious education in their early years. The challenge the salesians face is just this: faith formation of the people of Jaitala.

VOCATIONS

Many are called but the Lord chooses just a few. So thus it has so far been with youth of Jiatala. A few (four to be precise) did choose to follow Christ`s call in the footsteps of Don Bosco but finding themselves not being strong in his Mission, those few have turned back and returned away from the vineyard of the Lord. May be the challenge is thrown to the Salesian. “Feed my people”. “Build them up”. “Give them the faith formation they require”. will the zealous salesians from among the readers opt to come to fulfill this mission? Yes basic Christian formation is to be imparted, along with academics, value-education and all round formation. Will you opt for this Mission and accept this challenge? Please do be generous: pray that the salesians presently in the mission field of Jaitala save their souls by working for Christ and making Him known.

Earlier this Parish was part of Holy Family Church, Padari Thana. Buti- Bori is an Industrial area and lot of people come in search of job and settle down for some time and later go away when they get better job. St. Claret Church Buti- Bori was established in the year 2000 at the invitation of the Archbishop, His grace Abraham Viruthukulangara.

In the beginning the pioneer missionaries were staying in rented house . In the year 2002 land was purchased in  order to start a school and parish. Fr. Beofre started this mission as the parishioners used to go to Holy Family Church, Thana. It is around 13 km from Buti Bori.

1. Rev. Fr. Siby Ervimangalam cmf was appointed as the first Parish Priest in the year 2000.

2. Rev. Fr. Thomas Thaniyyanical succeeded Fr. Siby in the year 2002 and worked for seven years

    as Parish Priest.

3. Fr. Francis Kallampukat cmf and Fr. Sunny Kunampadvil worked as Asst. Parish Priest in 2010.

4. Fr. Fabianus Barwa cmf and Fr. Thomas Manakuzhyil cmf were appointed as Parish Priest and

  Asst. Parish Priest respectively by His grace Abraham Viruthukulangara. 

At present we do not have parish church and we are making use of the school prayer  hall for all the liturgical purposes. At present we have 28 families in Buti Bori

The Parish is growing day by day and people regularly participate in all the liturgical services. We are grateful to God for his blessings, providence and protection. Let's bow before God the Almighty for loving kindness and mercy. We are what we are because of HIM.

Kamptee as the cradle of the Church in Nagpur, began with being a military cantonment area, in 1821. Between 1830's - 1846, came the missionaries from Goa, Pune and Madras -Mylapore. In 1842 a chapel was built in the church compound. The French M.S.F.S. entry began with Fr. Lavorel and his companions in August 1846. The first Vicar Apostolic Rt.Rev.Theophilus Neyret, M.S.F.S. whose mortal remains lie beneath the main altar, had planned and supervised the construction of a magnificent and imposing gothic church, fully constructed with bricks and mortar. It was his singular privilege to bless and dedicate the church to Our Lady, under the title 'The Immaculate Conception' in February 1858. The Immaculate Conception Church served as a Cathedral, till St. Francis De Sales Cathedral, Nagpur, took over that enviable position in 1888. This Church is the ancestral parish not of the Archdiocese of Nagpur, but also, of the neighbouring dioceses of Amravati, Aurangabad, Chanda, Adilabad, Jabalpur, Khandwa and Raipur. Over the years, various Parish Priests had carried out repairs to the church from .time to time. However, severe deterioration of the church made it necessary to undertake  thorough and extensive repairs and renovation. Without sacrificing the originality, this work was carried out meticulously by the present Parish Priest, Fr. Felix Basil Moras. The repaired and renovated Church was blessed and inaugurated by the Most Rev. Dr. Abraham Viruthakulangara, on 1st May 1998. On the occasion of the centenary of the church, a beautiful grotto dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima was built and a memorial was erected in front of the Church, by then Parish Priest, Fr. Norbert Braganza, M.S.F.S.

At Tillery, in Gorabazar, there was a chapel dedicated to St. Anthony, which has come down due to insufficient care. Also there were not enough funds available to reconstruct it. A memorial was erected, which was blessed by Auxiliary Bishop Rt. Rev. Sylvester Monteiro, on 11th June 1995. The untiring efforts of Fr. Sebastian D'Costa made it possible to put up this memorial.

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambery, who arrived here in 1854, have made a praise worthy contribution to the civil and catholic life of the Parish, through their boardings, orphanages, creche and educational institutions. Historically, Kamptee Church and the Convent play an important role in the history of the Church in Central India.

The history of Thana mission

The land of Padri Thana mission was bought on 16 may, 1865 by Rev Fr Belmond, the first missionary of Thana. He was an       M.S.F.S. missionary. It was 1277 acres of land, in cash payment of Rs 1192.80 plus one Rupee as the registration fee of the sale deal which was to give the mission hereditary rights.            

On 21 May 1865 Bishop Tissot of Vishakhapatnam mission and Fr. Belmond climbed the highest hill called 'Galhekery'. Later it was named "Mount Carmel" of the land bought for the Thana mission, erected, and blessed. A wooden cross, which was, replaced by a huge steel cross on 24th February 1935 by Bishop Gayat and declared that May 3rd, feast of the invention of the Holy Cross would be the feast of Thana's Calvary celebrated by pilgrimage and procession every year.

According to the Baptismal register the settlement started 1897 onwards. Due to the plague and famine thousands of people died in Nagpur area. Many children became orphans and the government of India collected these children almost 900 of them and entrusted them to M.S.F.S. missionaries. These children were brought to Thana mission, there they were settled. Fathers took care of boys and St. Joseph Sisters the girls. They grew up and were married. Some settled there itself; many of them migrated to different parts of Nagpur like Martin Nagar, Jaitala, Amravati, Jabalpur etc. M.S.F.S missionaries built Church, Hindi Medium School, Hostel for children and farm houses for people there in Thana.

P.S.D.P. missionaries came to Padri Thana in 1995. They gave first preference to the people who were spiritually very poor to bring them close to Jesus through Mother Mary. In order to have more devotion to Mother Mary, three grottos were built two in Padri Thana and one in Pettichuva.

Below the grotto of Blessed Virgin Mary built 20 Stations of the Cross of the mysteries of the Holy Rosary is built. A chapel built in the cemetery. Renovation of the 100 year old churches in Padri Thana and Pettichuva are done beautifully. People got many opportunities to go for retreat in different retreat centers like Potta, Tabor, and Faridabad. Also many good retreat preachers were brought to Thana for the people. Many awareness program classes and camps were organized for the people for the betterment of the people P.S.D.P. Missionaries started Hospital, English Medium School, home for the destitute and hostel. Considering the children's future studies, they started another hostel with all the necessary facilities in Fetri Nagpur. God has done great things in the lives of Thana people through P S D P missionaries. One of the most important things is people of Thana stopped taking alcohol which was their main business for last 70 years. Thanks be to God. According to the latest census there are 110 families in this parish. There are 5 religious, 3 fathers and 2 brothers who are working in this parish from P.S.D.P. men congregation and one Diocesan brother and priest. Besides this, 13 other religious from different women congregations FMCK, ASM I, SH & PSDP are also working in this mission.

The parish at the Seminary Hills is associated with the Dominicans for a long time. Historically it had been part of St. Francis de Sales Cathedral parish. Seeing the need of the people in and around the Seminary Hills, the parish was created in 1965 with Fr. Stephen Moniz as the first parish priest. St. Charles seminary was the center of all the parish activities and the grotto was the shrine visited by all. With the ordination of the first Indian Dominican in 1971, the responsibility of taking care of the parish was handed over to the Dominicans. St. Dominic's Ashram was made the center for parish activities and the community church was also used as the parish church. The prior of St. Dominic's Ashram is the parish priest, who was assisted by a parochial vicar. Fr. Pius Mc Grath, OP was the first Parish Priest, who was assisted by Fr. C.J. Sebastian, OP as the first parochial vicar. Over the years, the parish has grown and with the coming of the Mary Queen of the Apostles Church at Anantnagar, the parish was bifurcated. The Pallottine Fathers have been entrusted with the responsibility of taking care of the new parish and parish at Seminary Hills continued to be taken care of by the Dominicans.

At Present Fr. Amirtha Raj, OP is the Parish Priest and he is assisted by the community of priests. One of the major thrusts within the parish is to organize and to administer the Rosary Parish for the purpose of being a well organized and administered parish and for instructing and educating the seminarians how a parish has to be organized in the present situation. The parish functions with the involvement of all the parishioners. It is a “Participative” and a “Collaborative” church, where all the members in different areas of the parish are encouraged to build small Christian communities leading to building communities of communities and communities of humanity. There are many important programmes are planned and in the process of carrying them out:

1. Formation of the Parish Council: Representatives from the Religious houses; representatives from the SCC; representatives from the organizations; representatives from all the committees; and nominated members. Every month the parish council members come together and discuss, deliberate, plan and organize the entire programme where maximum people participate in all the diocesan and parish programmes and activities.

2. Formation of vibrant and functioning Small Christian Communities: Bringing all the families together around the Word of God in a particular area and helping them to read, reflect, pray, assimilate and put into practice in one's life, which eventually would lead to transformation and a deep sense of belonging to the community and to the parish.

3. Formation of a new and restructuring and reconstituting the old Parish organizations: Over and above the participation in the liturgical services, being a member of an organization makes the parishioners to be more actively involved in the life and ministry of the parish.

4. Formation of different committees for effectiveness, efficiency, involvement and responsibility: The entire parish council is grouped into different committees, where the committee members accept and carry out the responsibility entrusted to them.

5. Planning for the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes: The Shrine is the Pilgrim Center of Central India, where we plan to develop in a big way for the good of the church, for the good of the diocese and for the good of the devotees.

6. Regular pastoral visits to the Families: The best way to build a parish is to have regular organized pastoral visits to all the families of the parish. The Parish Priest is expected to visit at least three times a year all the families of the parish. 

7. Three times a year area wise mass in all the areas of the parish: Part of building up and enlivening the parish we have area wise mass during lent, advent and also during the feast of the patron of the area. The three occasions bring the entire people together.

8. Regular training and faith formation programmes: During the year we organize a number of programmes where maximum people could participate in them. Most of these programmes are faith formation, study of Bible and any other relevant courses needed and available for the parishioners.

9. Catechism classes for children and for adults: This is organized for all the children and the teachers and the students are regular and are committed to it. 

10. Social and developmental programme in the parish: We have also many developmental and participative activities within the parish through the Vincent de Paul Society and Women's Group and so on. Through these groups, the medical needs of the sick and need and the educational needs of the poor children as well as to support in a regular way the basic needs of the parishioners.               

The Nagpur Catholics were first visited by the Goan priests who had built a small chapel at Sitabuldi around the year 1836 and dedicated it to St. Francis Xavier, patron of the missions. Subseqently, the Irish chaplains from Kamptee were incharge.

With Nagpur becoming a diocese in 1887, the cathedral of St. Francis de Sales became the centre of religious activities for the Catholics. The chapel at Sitabuldi was only operative during the feast day of St. Francis Xavier in November and December each year.

During the late sixties a need was felt to have a mass centre at Mount Carmel Convent, Dhantoli on the airport road, to cater to the spiritual needs of the catholic staying in west Nagpur. Fr. Joaquim Fernandes was the first priest-in-charge of the centre. He was succeeded by Fr. Joe Quadros who served the growing catholic community for 12 years. During this period of time a lot of search was made for a plot of land in and around Dhantoli on the airport road to have a parish church and priest residence. The existing chapel at Sitabuldi on the airport road, with its limited surrounding land, was earmarked by Archbishop Abraham Virthakulangara for a parish church for the Catholics of Dhantoli mass centre and the surrounding area. The parish is spread over the main town of Sitabuldi, Dhantoli, Mariam Nagar, Civil lines, Dharampeth, Gokulpeth, Bajaj Nagar, and Amravati Road.

On 11th March 2004 the bomipujan for the new parish church at Sitabuldi was performed by Archbishop Abraham in the company of a visiting bishop, priests. religious and the faithful. The old chapel was demolished and a new structure consisting of a basement, priest residence and church was blessed and inaugurated by our Archbishop Abraham Virthakulangara on 29th January 2006. Fr Jerome Pinto was first Parish Priest from 2006 to 2008. later in June 2008 Fr. Patrick Lemos was appointed as a second Parish Priest.

ACTIVITIES:

Besides Sunday services there is regular Sacred Heart devotion on every Friday .There are ten SSC groups who meet on regular basis. There are alcoholic anonymous meetings on every Monday and Thursday. St Francis Xavier feast, the patron of the parish is celebrated with novena and people from all over Nagpur take part in novena and feast. During holy week, Parish youth enact the way of the cross through the main streets of Nagpur city. The first parish directory was published in 2008 so that parishioners know each other better and pray for each other and especially remember each other on their birthdays and anniversaries. Regular bulletin  of parish is circulated to the parishioners with all details of important events in the parish.

Kanhan Parish came into existence in August 1976 on the appointment of Fr. P.M. Thomas. He took up residence in a rented house which was blessed on 17th February 1977, which consisted of a Prayer Hall Cum Priest's residence. It was here that the people of both Kamptee Colliery and Kanhan fulfilled their Sunday obligation.

Meanwhile a plot of land was sanctioned by the Coal Mines Authorities and Fr. Thomas lost no time to inaugurate the "Prabhu Prakash" Community Centre on Wednesday 8th June1983.

This, the Catholic Community at Kamptee Collieries had a Church for themselves a distance of 5 K.M. from Kanhan.

The next Parish Priest Fr. Daniel worked hard to get the small plots at Kanhan and a church cum Residence was inaugurated on 1st Nov. 1993 with "VISHWA JYOTI" Community Centre name given to it. It was here the permanent residence of the Parish Priest took place.

This parish was carved out mainly from the territory of St. Martin De Pores Church,  Jaripatka and with another few families from Anantnagar Parish.  It was declared a parish in Decemebr 2004 and Fr. Daniel Rodgers, the first Parish Priest took charge of the parish on December 3, 2004.   As a newly erected parish it had hardly any facilities. Sunday masses were held in Vikas Bhavan hall of the CNI Church, paying the rental charges.  For the seasons of Lent, on Wednesdays and Fridays way of the cross and mass were conducted at the Don Bosco School nearby.  The construction of a shed was started in July 2005 and on August 21, 2005 this small chapel was blessed and inaugurated by His Grace Archbishop Abraham and the first feast of our patron saint Pius X  was celebrated.

The servants quarters built by St. Charles Seminary Education Society, which became the social work centre of the Diocese    (1994-2002) where SMMI sisters Lilly Francis, Daya Mathew and others did a lot of great social service to the poor and marginalized and which later became a house for the street children for more than a year run by Fr. Herald O.P. it was then turned into the parish house and office where Fr. Daniel began to stay.  This is still the parish house today.

In June 2007 Fr. Daniel was transferred and Fr. Mathew Elanjikal took charge as the parish priest. In 2008 Fr. Reji OSH was appointed as assistant parish priest.  Fr. Mathew realizing the urgent felt need of a parish church tried his best to procure some land in and around the parish area.  Unfortunately he met with an accident and had to go for long treatment.  At this time Fr. Reji  George was appointed priest in-charge for 2009 with the guidance and help of Fr. Ignatius, the diocesan procurator.  In May 2010 Fr. Reji  was appointed the Parish Priest and on his transfer in May 2011 Fr. Ignatius  Anthony was appointed as the Parish Priest.  Fr. Benny Chittilappilly  SDV who came as assistant to Fr. Reji in Feb 2011 continued as assistant to Fr. Ignatius.  Fr. Ignatius began his ministry in all earnestness and got himself  endeared to the parishioners. But unfortunately on August 14, 201 (Just 2 ½ months) he suffered a massive heart attack and left for his reward.  Then Fr. Benny SDV was appointed priest in charge with Fr. Joseph Polishetty helping him as and when required.  Then Fr. Thomas Thennatt SAC, a Pallotine priest was appointed Parish Priest and he took charge of the parish on 1st July 2012 when he was installed by the Arch Bishop during the Holy Eucharist.  Fr. Benny, SDV continues to be the assistant. 

The parish has 2 religious houses-both of  them formation houses-run by the Good Shepherd sisters and St. Peter Claver Sisters.   There are about 250 catholic families constituting of people belonging to different languages, cultures, classes and tradition. In spite of this great variety and plurality of all sorts we do experience unity in diversity which is our great strength as well as at times a matter of concern.

The parish has a very active parish council.  Members are elected from the different SCC units. there are 5 SCC groups who meet regularly every month for the Bible sharing and other prayer meeting. They are very much involved in the life and activities of the parish.  The Sunday catechism classes are well managed by the laity. There is an active and dynamic youth group also. A real felt need and a matter of grave concern is to have a church for our daily worship and sacramental celebrations.  All the members are anxiously looking for its speedy realization and are praying together for this very important intention.  They are earnestly knocking at the doors of heaven and at the hearts of people to realize this great dream and vision as soon as possible.

A piece of land has purchased to construct new church. Inviting your generous contributions.....

St. Theresa's Church is situated in Ramtek Tahasil on Highway No.7 on Jabalpur Road. It is about 4o k.m. from Nagpur city. The property was purchased in the year 1912-1913. The Church was established in 1912. The Church building was an old police chowki, which was repaired and renovated during the course of time with the residence for the priest. The first Parish Priest was Fr. Boniface Mendes. Before 1962 priests were coming either from Kamptee or Gondia to celebrate the mass. The parishioners mostly working in the Manganeese mines are of Tamil origin. Besides Mansar there are some visiting stations: Pauni, Totladoah, Hiwra, satak and Beldongri. The parish owns 102 acres of land at satak village, which is 13 k.m. away from the Mansar Parish.

Fr. Augustine Kadam used to visit Silewara from Saoner. He established a K.G and Primary School to cater to the children of W.C.L. S.M.M.I, Sisters were running the school initially. Later on Archbishop Leobard invited the Sacred Heart Sisters from Patna and the school was handed over to them in 1981. Fr. A. Kadam was the first Chaplain followed by many others who already went for their eternal reward. As the catholic population working in Silewara increased, it was upgraded as a parish. At present Fr. Rudolf Toppo is the parish priest. A plot of land has been purchased by NRCDC at Dahegaon 8 Kms from Silewara on Chindwara Highway for the purpose of building a church and priest's residence.

In the year 1890, the Civic Authorities of Nagpur the then Bishop of Nagpur, Msgr. Riccaz requested to rehabilitate the abandoned, physically handicapped, insane and lepers of Nagpur and a plot of land was made available to him. Bishop Riccaz entrusted this task to the Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate, naming the centre as Poor House.

It took nearly 75 years to recognize the good work of the sisters and the mud huts were replaced with well-equipped rehabilitation centres. Meanwhile a good number of Catholic families had settled down around this institute. The spiritual care of the inmates of the Poor House and that of outside was carried out by priests from the Bishop's House or from the neighboring Parish of Ajni.

In 1959 Archbishop Eugene D'souza made Untkhana as a full-fledged Parish with the name as Holy Family Church and the Poor House Chapel was made the Parish Church with a resident priest. Fr. Joseph Ekka was the first Parish Priest. Due to the increase in the population a new, beautiful and spacious church was built and blessed during the time of Fr. P.M Thomas on 21 st June 1994. Today the growing parish has the care of 190 catholic families, 2 large convents with 34 religious sisters and 300 inmates and two hospitals; and of course, the non- catholics living within the parish territory.

The Church of Infant Jesus is situated at about 13 kms from Nagpur city, off Amravati Road, popularly known as 8th  mile. This was a part of Jaitala Parish, till 1997. Way back in 1968, late Fr. Jacob Lewis had bought a small piece of land, admeasuring  100" x 100', to build a church later on. In 1982, initially, Holy Mass was being offered in individual Christian houses. This practice continued until various Christian Denominations in Defence Project, built a hall for their services. In 1997, Fr. Stephen Moniz constructed a church and a small presbytery with two  rooms and a kitchen. The Church was blessed and inaugurated on 7th  December 1997 and was dedicated to Infant Jesus. Rev. Fr. Maurice Fernandes was the first Parish priest.

In 2007, June 26th  ,Fr. Felix Basil Moras  took charge of the Parish, as well as, the Parish Primary School. In 2008-09, the church was extended at both ends: in front a 14 feet porch and at the rear side a 8 feet. Sacristy. In 2009-10, a multipurpose hall with two guest rooms was built on top of the presbytery.

Infant Jesus Primary school:

In order to provide educational facilities to the local children, a piece of land measuring 100' x 50' was purchased from CNI Bishop in 1997. A building was erected for this purpose. In 2002, Infant Jesus Primary School was started. Sisters of St. Ann of Luzern (Vijayawada) were invited to run the school for the Archdiocese. The school follows CBSE pattern of education. Right now, a hall is being built on top of the second floor of the school.

St.Ann's Convent: Sisters of St. Ann of Luzern (Vijayawada).were invited by the Archbishop, to run Infant Jesus School for the Archdiocese and help out in the Church activities. Though they have been there since 2002, yet they did not have their own premises. They used to reside in a rented building. The Archdiocese built a convent, on the plot bought in 2003, which was blessed and inaugurated on 7th June, 2006.

ChavaraKunj:    In order to have their presence in the Archdiocese, the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) of Mar Thomas  Province, Chanda established a transit house, at Dattawadi, on 25th  June 2001.

Carmel Academy Secondary School (CBSE): As Infant Jesus School, was unable to go beyond primary level, Archbishop Abrahm Viruthakulangara requested the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate of Mar Thomas Province, Chanda, to start a Higher Secondary School, close by. Accordingly, in June 2009, the Carmel Academy Secondary school was started. In the first year, classes were held in Infant Jesus School itself. In the second year, they moved out to rented premises and in  the third year, they shifted to their own spacious premises, at Waddhmana,  opposite to Highland Park.

Fr. Felix Basil Moras is the current Parish Priest and the Manager of Infant Jesus School, who is being assisted by Br. Sanjay Soren. SJW.